Host Plant Oviposition Research Articles

Ovipositional preference of Siphoninus phillyreae and its fitness on seven host plant species

AbstractThe relationship between ovipositional preference of Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) and host plant suitability on seven host plant species (Citrus sinensis (L.) cv. ‘Washington’ [navel orange], Fraxinus uhdei (Wenz.) [shamel ash], Heteromeles arbutifolia Roemer [toyon], Malus domestica Mill. cv. ‘Granny Smith’ [apple], Pistacia vera L. cv. ‘Kerman’ [pistachio], Prunus persica (L.) cv. ‘O'Henry’ [peach], and Pyrus communis L. cv. ‘Bartlett’ [pear]) was evaluated. Ovipositional preference of S. phillyreae was determined by measuring egg density after adult female whiteflies were given a simultaneous choice of all host plants for oviposition. Immature survival, developmental time, and adult size were examined to determine host plant suitability for S. phillyreae. All studies were performed under greenhouse conditions. S. phillyreae showed distinct ovipositional preference among host plant species. Host plant species had a significant effect on immature survival, but little or no effect on developmental time or forewing length. For four of the seven host plant species tested, there was an association between ovipositional preference and survival.

Evolution and ecology of oviposition on host plants by acridoid grasshoppers

Most members of the superfamily Acridoidea (Orthoptera) oviposit in the soil, but some species oviposit directly on or in tissue of host plants. Oviposition in association with host plants has been reported for only 6% of acridoid species for which oviposition behaviour is known, hut the behaviour is systematically and geographically widespread, including members of two families and seven acridid subfamilies on three continents. This distribution suggests that host plant oviposition by grasshoppers has evolved independently at least eleven times in the world's grasshoppers fauna. A comparative approach to investigating oviposition on host plants shows that it tends to occur in species of inundated habitats and tropical forests, in species with narrow diets, and is correlated with a reduction in clutch size.

Nectar source distribution as a determinant of oviposition host species in Euphydryas chalcedona.

The distribution of nectar sources is shown to affect both the distribution of adult Euphydryas chalcedona and their offspring. We suggest that nectar sources thereby influence the selection of oviposition host plant species in habitats where those species are spacially separated.

Chemical Recognition of Host Plants for Oviposition by the Cabbage Butterfly, Pieris rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

A bioassay using green index cards demonstrated the stimulatory effect of cabbage extracts on oviposition by Pieris rapae . The chemicals involved are water soluble, and the butterflies readily differentiated between different concentrations. High concentrations of the glucosinolate sinigrin also stimulated oviposition but had little effect on the spatial distribution of eggs over treated and control areas of cards. Response to cabbage extracts, however, resulted in precise discrimination between treated and control areas throughout the active life of the butterflies. Cabbage volatiles did not enhance stimulation of oviposition on extract-treated cards. The results suggest that more than one nonvolatile chemical is needed for both stimulation of oviposition and selection of the exact oviposition site

AGRAULISANDPASSIFLORAII. BEHAVIOR AND SENSORY MODALITIES

1. The behaviors and sensory modalities involved in the selection of Passiflora host-plants for oviposition by the heliconian butterfly Agraulis vanillae were investigated. 2. Ovipositing females are attracted to oviposit near green leaf-shaped objects on the basis of generalized visual cues but make no ovipositional distinction between P. alato-caerulea and P. edulis, which are readily discriminated when full access to the vines is allowed. 3. The rate of oviposition by female Agraulis is accelerated by odors from P. alato-caerulea and P. caerulea, retarded by odors from P. manicata and Passiflora sp., and not affected by odors from P. edulis or P. mollissima. 4. Contact-chemical stimulants and inhibitors of oviposition are presumed to exist in the leaves of passion-vines on the basis of circumstantial evidence. Attempts to demonstrate directly their existence have not yet been successful. 5. Female Agraulis exhibit a positive anemotactic response in an airstream that has passed over one of at least two species of Passiflora, P. alato-caerulea and P. manicata, but not in an airstream passed over P. mollissima. 6. A mark-release-recapture study of adult movements among three passion-vines demonstrated that butterfly subpopulations tend to form on each vine with little exchange between different subpopulations. 7. The primary factor determining the infestation level of a particular Passiflora by Agraulis is the balance of chemical cues directly involved in oviposition that are present in that Passiflora. Possible functions for the upwind flight response are suggested. Further research on the plant chemistry of the family Passifloraceae as it relates to heliconian behavior would broaden our understanding of heliconian-Passiflora coevolution.